Security Author: Edward R. Silverman
A National Science Foundation employment survey has found that the median salary paid to individuals holding doctorates in biological and health sciences was lower in 1993 (the last year examined) than that paid to science and engineering Ph.D.'s in many other disciplines. At the same time, however, the study, scheduled for release next month, reports that doctoral degree- holders in the life sciences in general--including biological scientists--also experienced sharply lower unemployment and underemployment rates.
To compile the survey, NSF queried nearly 50,000 randomly selected doctoral recipients from across the United States, who had held their Ph.D.'s for varying amounts of time. Responses were received from approximately 40,000. Data were analyzed to provide information by employment sector--academia, industry, and government--as well as occupation, gender, and field of study. The life sciences were divided into categories for biological and health, agricultural and food, and environmental scientists. A ...
